First Lenders Data, a privately held company based in Austin, TX, has launched the FirstClose Report, an instantaneous, bundled report that delivers a title search, flood certification, valuation and property information with $500,000 of lien protection insurance on every loan. The company says that their FirstClose Report offers credit unions who are refinancing their HELOCS a way to reduce closing times from 40+ days to less than 10 days, while reducing costs by an average of 40%.

Commodore Perry FCU (Oak Harbor, OH) has become the newest recipient of the CU*Answers Scholarship Award, which is designed to provide credit unions most CU*BASE® core processing services free or at significantly reduced rates for an initial 2 year period. The $37 million-credit union is the fifth recipient of the Spirit of CU*Answers Scholarship Award. This program includes the entire CU*BASE processing solution, including an array of member self-service tools.

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Hardware News

Intel`s new Core i7-6950X chip features a groundbreaking 10 cores. In addition to the 10-core Core i7-6950X at the top, Intel is also introducing the 8-core Core i7-6900K, the 6-core Core i7-6850K, and a lower end 6-core Core i7-6800K. Intel`s Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 is exclusive to the new Broadwell-E family and is supported by a driver in Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 that lets the OS bind applications to that fastest core when only one computing thread is used. In theory, Turbo Boost Max 3.0 foreshadows the day when the OS can more intelligently and efficiently assign workloads to particular CPU cores.

Thecus announced the W2810PRO, a cloud-ready network storage appliance providing storage of up to 16TB for small organizations. The W2810PRO runs Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials, which comes pre-installed on a solid state boot drive. Targeted at organizations with less than 50 employees, the W2810PRO includes a Windows Server license and offers two RJ45 10/100/1000 BASE-TX LAN connections. By running the preinstalled Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials, credit unions can take advantage of Microsoft developed capabilities such as data deduplication, storage spaces, and native support for Active Directory.

Nuance says that their Power PDF 2 program makes it easy to convert, edit, annotate and share documents from any application — or back again. Power PDF 2 delivers advanced PDF features like editing, annotating, and converting through an intuitive Microsoft Office look and feel that supports Windows 10 touch-enabled, hybrid devices. Power PDF Advanced 2 runs $149.99 with volume discounts available, while Power PDF Standard 2 for individuals, home offices and small workgroups is offered for $99.99.

Poorly managed firewall rules - which can number in the hundreds or even thousands - can lead to security disasters. Firewall security management products are designed to minimize or eliminate misconfigurations, unused rules and conflicting rules and help IT Departments monitor compliance, orchestrate device policies, optimize rules and manage firewall changes. Four leading firewall management vendors to consider are: Tufin, AlgoSec, FireMon and RedSeal.

Secdo is an Israeli startup that tries to reduce incident response time and neutralize threats in near-real time. They use proprietary technology known as Preemptive Forensics to collect forensic data to help automatically validate and remove false positives from SIEM solutions, deliver damage assessment reports, and remediate detected threats. The software delivers a process view where you can segregate what it sees into hardware, network, file and user activities so you can further analyze the potential threats and reduce the number of false positives.

In response to the growing number of Long Bezel skimming devices being attached to NCR SelfServ ATMs, TMD Security has responded with their Card Protection Kit 6001s version 2016. Due to the fact that the inside of the LB skimming bezel is large and hollow, it is more difficult to detect. They say that their solution secures NCR SelfServ ATMs with active protection against other skimming techniques, as well, including second generation stereo skimming.

In a related story, while “normal” ATM skimmers are place on the card slot where you can visually inspect the slot for abnormalities, “deep insert” skimmers are invisible. Using a special tool, they are placed deep inside the machine, and sit right around the magnetic stripe reader. You can view a video of the tool in action here:

Credit Unions - if you have a vendor that you are happy with then please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

Vendors - if you have a credit union that is happy with your solutions then please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will give you a $100 discount on your Case Study!

OpenWay announced the development of WAY4 Messenger Banking which is a white-label solution that facilitates member service via messenger applications. Credit unions can use WAY4 Messenger Banking to create a chat bot for Facebook, Telegram, WeChat, Viber and Line messenger platforms, and link this with a core banking and card processing system on the back-end. Messenger users then add the bot to their list of contacts to get access to financial and informational services of the credit union that owns the bot. They can do things such as ask for the location of the nearest ATM, block cards and set card transaction limits.

Mobile banking usage has now surpassed the halfway point among small businesses in the U.S., according to the Raddon Financial Group. More than half (56%) of small businesses indicate a financial institution`s technology resources have a significant impact on their decision to use that institution`s services. This statistic is highlighted by the success of the money center banks in gaining small business market: they claim 68% of all primary business banking relationships, while only 41% of retail consumers cite a mega-bank as their PFI. Raddon found that 50% of mobile banking businesses feel that their use of mobile banking has made them more likely to remain with their financial institution.

FLI Charge claims to be the fastest, most powerful wireless charging system for mobile devices including laptops, tablets and phones. They use conductive technology to provide power to multiple devices at the same time thereby freeing up outlets and eliminating tangled cables.

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Darktrace is a cybersecurity startup that uses machine learning to detect threats via its Enterprise Immune System technology. Darktrace is the company's basic cyber threat defense solution that does not require any rules or signatures. They also offer Darktrace Threat Visualizer, which provides IT Departments with a high-level, global view of their infrastructure, and Darktrace Antigena which complements the core Darktrace product by automatically defending against potential threats that have been detected. The company recently raised $65M to continue global adoption of their Enterprise Immune System technology.

A company called Veriflow says that they have a new approach to breach and network outage prevention. They state that their platform:

Competitive research has always been difficult, e.g., determining where other FIs buy display advertising, how their ad language differs by audience, which banner ads work for them, etc. Here are some tools that can help you understand what creative your competitors are using, which media they favor and how much they are spending:

A new report by Citigroup equities analysts concludes that Bitcoin does not pose a threat to existing centralized payment networks due to problems like scalability, network adoption and lack of a legal/regulatory framework for dispute resolution. However, they believe that blockchain technology has the potential to open up new markets for financial services, and that the technology could help card networks and money transfer services improve efficiency. Finally while a central bank-backed digital currency could pose a disruptive threat to current FI operations, Citi views this as an improbable "long-tail" risk.

American Express has launched a venture called Working Capital Terms which is an online platform for small business loans of up to $750,000. Some observers believe that AmEx will see success because they can offer rapid underwriting, fast approvals and reasonable rates, e.g., — 0.5% for 30-day loans to 1.5% for 90-day loans. “We`ve combined the convenience of the online lender with the competitive pricing of a bank loan,” said an AmEx spokesperson.

Microsoft is offering Skype Meetings at no cost to small organizations and users can launch meetings for up to 10 people during their first 60 days of using it. After the trial period, users are limited to only hosting meetings for three or fewer people. Those meetings can take advantage of several features, including the option to bring in participants using a hyperlink and display PowerPoint presentations. Larger credit unions may want to consider Skype for Business's more robust functionality, which includes the ability to host meetings with as many as 250 participants.

The latest addition to Masergy`s managed network functions called WAN Encryption is a managed service that protects data end-to-end while in transit. Masergy Managed WAN Encryption offers centralized management of real-time strong encryption over the entire network, and can be delivered as a virtualized managed network function or as secure hardware appliances. The company provides encryption key management services, and generates encryption keys associated with specific customer policies. Pricing starts at $125 per month.

NICE unveiled the new edition of its recording technology for Microsoft`s Skype for Business communications platform which can help remote agents meet regulatory and compliance standards. The package can:

- support dynamic selective recording, including being customizable to specific compliance policies